A First Year's Story
by JustASmallTownGirlInAHugeWorld
Summary: Rated T For Mild Cursing. It's basically the life of a girl named Charity leading up to the last day of Hogwarts. Crappy summary. one sided Harry/Ginny. After reading Tara G.'s 'My Immortal' I thought, "That story could and would be better, if WORK and THOUGHT and ACTUAL REAL(ISH) EVENTS were used." So that's basically what this story is. I hope you read and reveiw!
1. Chapter 1

A/N I'm hoping that this won't turn out to be a Mary-Sue story :(. But, if it does, I'll try to fix it! So, this is the story of an eleven year old girl, who just found out that she's a wizard. She is one year behind Harry Potter.

I'm Charity Sage Harwell, weird name I know. But, back to the point more people call me Char(A/N The ar is pronounced like air).I'm eleven years-old. I have auburn,frizzy, and curly hair. I'd say it's medium length, but everyone's opinion is different. I have to wear stupid square glasses,which I hate. I'm around 4'5 feet tall(a/nI can't measure with meters, sorry.). I have freckles that I hate,a lot. Well, more than a lot. I'm also very clumsy, always tripping over my own feet. Once I fell up the stairs, but that's a whole,different story. I was originally raised in Manhattan, New York in the United States, but when I was one year old, I moved to London with my mum.

"Charity, supper's ready," My brown-haired mum said, peeking her head into my room.

My mother was this smiley-bubbly woman, who looks older than she really is, because she works 6 days a week. That only leaves one day and few hours to visit with her. I know what your thinking, where the heck is your father? Long story short, he kicked the bucket five years ago.

I got off my bed, stretched, and walked into our small kitchen. I looked at our table, which was very small and looked like it was about to break, and on it was a _very classy _meal, hamburgers with sweet tea. If you couldn't tell I was being sarcastic when I said classy.

I sat down at the table with Mum, whom was already munching down on her hamburger. "How was your day, honey?" She asked once she swallowed her food and drank a small amount of tea.

"The usual, Alexis bullying me, crap for lunch, tons of homework, and a lot of other things I don't want to bore you to death with. So, how was your day at work?" I asked her.

My mom ran a small bookstore near the subway station. It didn't pay well, but it was good enough to buy cheap food and pay off the house.

She sighed,"We sold two books that cost ten pounds in all. We got a one pound tip from this old, rich lady."

"Oh," I said.

We ate the rest of our meal in silence, not wanting to talk anymore. That's pretty much how every supper goes, every night.

After supper, I went to my room to do my homework. I sucked at math, science, and history. I decided to tackle the worst first, which was math. I looked at one question and thought that the I might just have to bang my head on my desk, just out of the headache that was already beginning to arrive. I put down the math and decided to try science. I looked at it, even worse. "If this is as hard as math and science, I'm screwed," I told my self.

I took out my history sheet and looked at it. I'm screwed. Oh well, I usually am.

I did my English writing, easily. There was no writing homework, for some reason my writing teacher went all soft today.

Before I knew it, the clock already read 11:00 pm. I would get in serious trouble if my mum found out that I stayed up later than 12:00. "I better shower," I thought aloud.

I stepped into the shower and wash my hair and body(A/N If it was more descriptive, it would b D!). I put on my sleep shirt and swear jeans.

After blow drying me hair and combing it out, I lied down on my twin bed. I had the weirdest dream ever, a bum was chasing me down the road.

A/N Was it good? Please tell me!


	2. Floo Powder

A/N Okay, I can tell this is only going to get one review, TOPS, but for real readers I'm going to continue! Excuse any inaccurate events that do not add up to the Harry Potter series. I will fix it, if it wasn't attended. I ALSO KNOW THAT MOLLY AND AUTHUR DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE TELEPHONES, BUT JUST PRETEND! Editing done by DianeCahil.  
I blinked once attempting to get the morning lights into focus. I looked around my small room and saw an odd-looking letter sitting on my desk. It was labeled 'To Charity Sage Garwell, the girl in the bedroom across from the kitchen'. It said it was from some place called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, what is Hogwarts? A warty-hog? I rubbed my eyes, and stood up. The letter felt like parchment.  
"Mum! I got a letter from a place called Hogwarts!" I yelled from my room.  
Mum walked groggily into my room, still rubbing sand out her eyes. She took the letter out of my hands and read it. She had to squint her eyes just to see who it was to. "Char, will you put on your glasses and read it to me; your old Mum can't see as well as she used to." She said.  
"Yes ma'am," I said as I put on my glasses,"It says 'Charity Sage Garwell, you have been accepted into Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. On September 1st report to Train Station nine and three-quarters. Please get the following things.

Uniform

Three Sets of Plain Work Robes, Black  
One Plain Pointed Hat (Black) for day wear  
One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings)  
Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags

Books

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk  
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot  
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling  
A Beginner's Guide To Transfiguration by Ermic Switch  
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungai by Phyllida Spore  
Magical Drafts and Potions by Aresnius Jigger  
Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them by Newt Scadmander  
The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self Protection by Quintin Trimble

Other Equipment  
1 Wand  
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set of glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set of brass scales  
Students may also bring an OWL or CAT or TOAD

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS!"  
"Mom, what is this stuff? Does have something to do with Dad?" I asked her looking back at the letter then at her.  
She started to wring her hands, now I knew something was up! Mum only wrang her hands when she was nervous or hiding something.  
"I know, I'll call Molly and Authur!" She exclaimed suddenly and hurried to our kitchen to apparently call Molly and Authur, whoever they are.  
"Molly! Charity got into Hogwarts. She needs to buy her supplies for school. Can she stay with you for the remaining two days left until Hogwarts?" My mum said it all so quickly I wasn't so sure if that is even what she said.  
I heard muffled talking on the other line. What was Hogwarts? Have Mum and I gone bonkers? Who are these Molly and Authur people? What would I need a WAND for? Or any other of that stuff for that matter? So many questions, no answers!  
Mum hung up the phone quickly. "Pack your bag! Hurry!"  
"What the heck was going?" I thought as I packed my bags.  
It only took me a little while, as I didn't have much. After I zipped up my travel bag, I heard collective oofs and OWS and wickeds. Then I heard someone say, "Joel! I haven't seen you in so long! Where's that daughter of yours?"  
It sounded like a woman's voice. I stuck my head out of my room and saw seven gingers, all of different ages and genders. There were six boys and one girl. A girl about my age saw me and asked,"Mummy, look! Is that Charity?"  
She had straight,frizzily red hair, like the others, and brown eyes. She was wearing a shirt that said 'Ginny Weasley'. I'm assuming that was her name.  
"Yes, go say hello! And what did I say about pointing?" The mother,just assuming,replied to Ginny Weasley.  
"Its rude," She said then ran up to me, "Hello! I'm Ginny Weasley!"  
I was a little bit shy around her, at first. "Shy are you now?" She asked me, already making herself comfortable on my bed.  
I nodded my head, not knowing what to say. "Can you talk?" Ginny asked me.  
"Yes, and very well might I add!" I said getting a little bit defensive.  
"Didn't mean to be harsh..." She said looking down at her feet.  
"Its fine. I just got defensive, that's all," I replied.  
She perked up a bit once I told her that. "GINNY! CHARITY! COME ON NOW!" Her mother yelled.  
We walked into the living room, where her family was waiting. The mother was holding a jar of powdery looking stuff. It was labeled 'Floo Powder'.  
"Okay Charity and Ginny go together," She instructed," Okay put some Floo Powder into the fire, wait for it to turn green, say these words loudly and clearly 'The Burrow', then step into the flames quickly!"  
Ginny and I did as we were told. I stepped into the flames and felt like I was about to puke. It felt like a roller-coaster, not that I would know, we never had enough money TO go to a roller-coaster park. Suddenly, I was standing in a very untidy household.  
"Follow me!" Ginny called to me as she ran up the wobbly stairs.  
She opened a door that led to a tidy room. The walls were a dirty white color. There were two beds, one with a normal colored bedspreads and pillows, another one with a green bedspreads and pillows.  
"Is this your room?" I asked Ginny looking around, taking in my sights.  
"Yes, this is will you'll be staying," Her mother suddenly appeared behind us.

R&R


	3. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger

A/N I realize no one is reading this, don't get my wrong, it would be AWESOME if they did. Okay, so here's chapter three! :D

"Thanks," I said smiling up at Ginny's mum.

She told us to come down later to get supper. We nodded our heads and she walked back down the stairs to the lower level of them magical house.

"Hey, room mate! Okay, first I need to warn you about something. Fred and George will play pranks on anyone, anytime. If they offer you anything just say no, don;t even think twice. Just say no," She warned me, wide eyed.

"Alright. When's supper?" I asked, my stomach rumbling.

Ginny giggled at my facial expression. Just as she opened her mouth to tell me when, her mum called us down for supper.

"Right about now I guess," She said as we walked down the stairs.

When we got down there we saw one extra kid about Ron's age sitting at the table."Who's that?" I whispered to Ginny.

"That's Harry Potter. He's really the other one is Hermione Granger," She whispered quietly back.

"Oh," I replied looking at him. He didn't look famous, just a common peasent at the most.

"Mummy, why is Harry here?" Ginny asked her mum as I stood awkwardly at the end of the stairway.

Her mum whispered something in her ear and Ginny sat back down. I continued staying in my spot, not knowing what exactly to do or where to go. There were no more places left to sit at the table, either. I stood there for another 10 minutes, until Harry asked the one who earlier had been called Ron,"Who's she and why isn't she sitting down?"

"That's Charity Sage Harwell. She's Ginny's age and a witch, as well. Her's mum's a muggle, I'm not too sure about her father though. Mum told us not to ask about her dad," He whispered back to Harry.

Then, Harry whispered to Hermione, I think that's what Ginny called her, what Ron had just told him. That made me feel even more awkward, as I didn't like people talking about me. "Come join us, Charity. Let me just get you another chair," said taking out her wand and with a single flick of the wrist another chair appeared beside Ginny and Hermione.

I sat down next to them and ate my supper. It was a very boring supper, and soon everyone had drifted off, doing their own thing. After, Ginny,Hermione,and I got done eating, it was already time to go to sleep.


End file.
